Tshwane and Stats SA clash over job numbers as mayor cites 22 000 gain and opposition claims 85 000 loss

City of Tshwane mayor Nasiphi Moya has said the capital added 22 000 jobs in the second quarter, a claim that has been challenged by opposition DA Tshwane mayoral candidate Cilliers Brink after Statistics South Africa released its latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey.

What the national figures show

Statistics South Africa’s survey showed the official national unemployment rate rose to 33.6% in the second quarter. The report also indicated that employment declined slightly during the quarter and that the number of unemployed people increased.

The mayor’s claim

Moya described the survey as showing an “encouraging improvement” in Tshwane’s labour market, saying that the number of employed people in Tshwane increased from approximately 1.229 million to 1.251 million between quarter 1 and quarter 2.

She said that, “At the same time, Tshwane’s official unemployment rate declined by 2.6 percentage points, from 36.8% to 34.2%” and that Tshwane was the only Gauteng metro to show employment growth during the quarter.

Moya added that while Tshwane added approximately 22 000 jobs, Johannesburg lost approximately 28 000 jobs and Ekurhuleni lost approximately 3 000. She said Tshwane now had the lowest official unemployment rate among Gauteng’s three metros at 34.2%, compared with 34.6% in Ekurhuleni and 35.9% in Johannesburg.

The opposition response

Cilliers Brink responded by pointing to a different timeframe, saying that in the year from April 2025 to April 2026 Tshwane lost 85 000 jobs a drop in employed persons of more than 6%. He contrasted that with Cape Town, which he said added 57 000 jobs, a rise of more than 3%.

“Tshwane job losses under the ANC-led coalition and their ActionSA mayor track increased power outages, water losses, and rocketing property rates and service charges. Moya and her administration have been as bad for the economy of the capital city as she has been for service delivery and good governance,”

Brink also accused ActionSA of using quarterly statistics to mask longer‑term declines, saying:

“They are, in fact, showing us an upward blip on a downward trend.”

Where the numbers diverge

The dispute hinges on different reporting windows and which figures are emphasised: Moya focused on quarter‑to‑quarter changes that show an increase in employed persons in Tshwane between quarter 1 and quarter 2, while Brink highlighted year‑on‑year losses between April 2025 and April 2026.

Key figures from the exchange

• Mayor Moya: +22 000 jobs in Q2; employed rose from ~1.229 million to ~1.251 million; unemployment in Tshwane fell from 36.8% to 34.2%.
• Stats SA (national): official unemployment rate 33.6% in Q2; employment declined slightly during the quarter; number of unemployed increased.
• Cilliers Brink: -85 000 jobs in Tshwane year‑on‑year (April 2025 to April 2026); Cape Town +57 000 jobs in same period.
• Metro comparisons for the quarter: Johannesburg -28 000, Ekurhuleni -3 000, Tshwane +22 000.

What happens next

The exchange highlights competing interpretations of Stats SA data between municipal leadership and opposition figures. The statistics cited show both a small quarter‑to‑quarter employment increase in Tshwane and larger year‑on‑year declines that the opposition emphasises.